Methi Rice Recipe

I've always suffered from Monday Blues... more so these days as weekends seem to go off in a blur.

Come Sunday night, and I find myself wondering what I did in the past two days. Usually, it is just a lot of cooking, photography and cleaning. This weekend I added in an extra trip to a place called Pottery Town, hoping to buy some earthen pots to cook in. I've heard that the earthen pots enhance the flavor of the food cooked in them and I'm always in the forefront to try out anything that takes my food to the next level. And while the entire trip was futile, as we reached late and probably skipped the very section of the street we should have driven on, I've not yet given up hope. So if you stay in Bangalore and have visited Pottery Town/Lane/Road and know the best shops there to pick up pots for cooking, please leave me a comment, I highly appreciate any help I get to locate the place.

So this Sunday night when I did a little introspect, I realized I'm getting so involved in all this that I'm running out of time to do the thing I love next to cooking - Blogging!! I'm now consciously making a resolution to start managing my time better so I get enough time to blog.

While I spend most of my weekend cooking for the week ahead and making dishes that are slow cooked or have too many steps, my weeknight mantra is "Quick and Simple" with a very strong emphasis on the quick part. My work has a way of interfering with my evenings and a lot of it is unplanned so I'm usually scrambling for time on weeknights. So quick it has to be.

When I think quick cooking recipes, I always turn to Rice. One of my quick rice recipes is this Methi Rice. Methi, Menthe or Fenugreek is a small leaved green that is native to India. Usually slightly bitter in taste, it goes amazingly well with rice. I've been eating Methi Sabzi all my life like this Aloo Methi, but the first time I tried Methi Rice was at my aunt's place a few years ago. I loved it instantly. Spicy, fragrant, with the slight salty bitterness of Methi leaves, what's not to love in it?

There are 2 ways to make Methi Rice. You can cook it entirely in the pressure cooker or a single pot or you can make rice separately and the methi masala separately and mix the two together. For those weeknights when I need a quick fix, I make the pressure cooker version and on weeknights like today, when I have a little more time, I use the latter method. The recipe below is for the second method, but if you plan to make it in a single pot, just skip the steps to cook the rice. Make the masala as described below, and then add the rice and water and cook the rice with the masala until it is done.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Mint Rice - Mint Rice is a one pot dish of rice cooked along with a mint puree, vegetables and spices.

Method:

Wash the basmati rice until the water runs clear. Drain and keep aside.Boil 2 cups of water in a large pot. Add 1 tsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt to it.Add the washed rice. Cover and cook until the rice is done.Allow to cool, then fluff rice with a spoon or forkHeat the remaining oil in a large kadhai or pan.Add diced potato to the oil and stir fry until the potatoes are cooked. Remove from oil and keep aside. Alternately, you can boil the potato and then dice into cubes. Add the cumin seeds the oil.After the cumin seeds are slightly browned, add sliced onions.Fry until onions turn golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 minute until fragrant.Add chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are soft.Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala. Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes.Add washed and chopped methi leaves and 1-2 Tbsp water.Cook until the methi leaves are completely cooked. Add sugar, salt and lime juice. Mix well. Fry for another 1 minute.Add the cooked rice and mix until the masala coats every grain.Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes until the rice is at least warm.Serve with raita.